Page 36 of Provocation (Den of Deception #3)

The fourth Thursday of November rolls around and I wake early.

My stomach has been in knots as this dinner with the Bandervilles has got closer.

I hate that I’m so scared. I literally killed a man a few days ago.

Joe Banderville shouldn’t terrify me as much as this.

But he and his casual cruelty, his rules and his correction , it’s like they mirror The Heath in a weird way.

Sure, they never beat me there, but the thought of living like that, being given rules to follow, being punished if I don’t do as I’m told, that’s no kind of life.

I’m in bed with all three guys. I think they’re all still asleep, but when I look over at Shade, his eyes are on me. His hand finds mine and he takes it in his, squeezing it gently.

‘I hate this,’ he whispers, and I nod, shuffling closer to him.

He puts his arms around me and draws me onto his chest.

‘How is Envy selling?’ I ask.

‘Really good, actually,’ he replies. ‘I’ve already deposited your quarter into an account. The info is in an envelope in the lab.’

‘And the … third party distributor? ’ I ask.

‘He’s very happy with the product.’ Shade sighs. ‘At least he’s off our back for now.’

I nod against his chest. ‘What about the guy I….’ Shot in the back?

‘Nothing. No mention of him at all. Blake’s boss thinks he went AWOL. He’s done it before apparently. Best outcome we could have gotten. We paid the money Sal owed, so he’ll keep his mouth shut about what happened.’

I listen to his heart for a few minutes. ‘I’m scared,’ I admit quietly.

His arms around me tighten, and so does his jaw. ‘I wish I could go with you today.’

‘Me, too,’ I whisper.

‘Me three,’ Blake says from behind me, feeling his way up my thigh as he kisses the back of my neck. ‘If the Bandervilles even threaten to touch you, I’ll find a way to kill the fuckers. I don’t care if they catch me.’

I smile despite the way that I'm feeling. I know that saying something like that is crazy, but I like it.

Blake's fingers move forward along my thigh, towards my mound and I shift slightly, spreading my legs a little so that he can touch me the way he wants to.

Shade smirks a little, his fingers idly playing with my nipples.

‘You’re very tense,’ Blake murmurs in my ear as he kneads the back of my neck, eliciting a small moan. ‘Would you like a backrub, or to come?

‘Both?’ I ask, stretching my neck forward a little.

‘I don’t think there’s time for both. Maybe we can do one now, and one later,’ Shade murmurs.

‘Fine,’ I concede.

‘I think your fingers inside her would relax her nicely, Blake. What do you think, princess?’

I nod as Blake stops massaging my neck, instead holding me firmly as his other hand delves between my legs and begins to rub that spot that he knows so well.

While Shade kisses me softly, he pulls my leg up and over his thighs, opening me for his friend, and taking over the rubbing that Blake has started.

Two fingers ease into me, probing gently before beginning to thrust in and out.

‘Wet already.’

‘Good girl.’

He curls them forwards and my mouth opens on a moan, muffled by Shade’s mouth on mine. It doesn't take long before I'm riding the waves of pleasure, my hips undulating while Mav sleeps beside us.

I try to be quiet for his sake, turning my face into the pillow when Shade pulls back to watch me come.

Mav’s been spending a lot of time in the lab at school, working on the non-opiate, and I know he's tired.

Blake’s fingers leave me, and I hear Blake licking them as I shudder in the aftershocks of my orgasm.

Shade gives me a final kiss.

‘Later, Blake is going to give you a backrub while I eat your pussy,’ he promises, his grin widening with my eyes.

He leaves the bed and disappears into the bathroom. I sigh, wanting to stay here in this little cocoon of ours, but I get up as well because I need to check on the latest batch.

I throw on one of the guy’s shirts and slip on Shade’s shoes to pad across the cellar to the lab.

I start making sure all the levels are right, running a couple of tests. I flip open one of my textbooks to read ahead while I’m waiting for the results.

A little while later, I notice Mav standing by the door. He’s watching me silently, leaning against the wall as he sips his coffee, and I wonder how long he's been there. He doesn't say a word, but as I close my textbook, he saunters up, puts his mug on the table, and then bends me forward over it.

‘Do you have any idea how hot you look in here with just my shirt on?’ he practically snarls in my ear. He nips my neck with his teeth, making me shudder and my legs widen almost involuntarily.

He shoves three of his fingers inside me and I squeal at the stretch, but I’m so wet from earlier it doesn’t really hurt.

He spears me, not being gentle, but I find my hips pushing backwards to get them to go deeper.

He adds a fourth and by the time he's finished, he's got his entire fist inside me within a matter of minutes.

The lab is filled with the wet slap of our movements and the sound alone would be enough to make me spiral toward that pleasurable abyss.

He brings me my second release of the morning, smiling as my legs shake and I grip onto the table hard.

Before he disappears, he gives me a lingering kiss on the shoulder, telling me to come and take a shower. I finish up in the lab and go back over to our bedroom. I find the bathroom empty and Mav’s just getting dressed.

There's a mug of tea and a muffin waiting for me, and I murmur a thank you before I have a quick shower. I get dressed for the day in a pair of jeans and an oversized sweater. I put my hair up into a high ponytail, and I go upstairs to the club.

It's been abnormally quiet the past day or two because everyone's already gone home for the holiday.

I spend the rest of the morning studying with my guys up in the office and listening to Shade talk through some of the financials of the club with Blake.

Envy certainly seems to be bringing in more people and making some money.

All too soon, however, it's time to go to the KIP house so that I can be picked up by the Banderville’s car for what will definitely be a Thanksgiving dinner to rival the worst of the meals I lived through in the Novelle dining room.

They drive me over in the truck just before it's time.

When we go inside, there's a box on the kitchen table and one of the juniors says it came for me that morning.

I open it to find a black dress with sparkles on it. The fabric is coarse, and I already know it'll feel like sandpaper against my skin.

A piece of paper falls slowly to the floor.

Wear this. JB

I sneer at the note, but I know what will happen if I don't do as I'm told.

I’ve already decided that I want to get through this dinner without any kind of painful punishment, and if that means following his dumb rules for a couple of hours, then so be it.

I go up to my room and dump the box on my bed.

I find underwear under the dress. A thin, black lace bra and a black thong.

I don’t want to wear them, but he might check somehow so I put them on, resolving not to tell the guys about that part as I change into the dress.

It's just as weirdly old-fashioned and uncomfortable as I thought it would be. With the scratchy underwear beneath, it’s even worse than I’d feared.

The dress is oddly dowdy but also a size too small, making my breasts spill out of the unflattering, square neckline almost lewdly.

He didn't bother to send shoes either, so I throw on the black pumps that I wore to my mom’s funeral.

I don't wear the jacket that Blake got for me. I don't want anything that they've got me anywhere near the Banderville house to be tainted.

I get a message from one of the guys downstairs to tell me there's a car here for me, and my stomach does a final, nasty flip. When I come out of my room, Blake, Shade, and Mav are waiting for me, their expressions grim.

‘If you need anything,’ Shade says, ‘you message us, okay?’

I nod. ‘Where will you guys be?’

‘Here or at the club,’ he answers.

‘You don’t have to go to your father’s for Thanksgiving?’

He shakes his head. ‘He’s in Europe on business again.’

Pulling me into his arms, he breathes in deep, as if he’s trying to memorize the way my hair smells. ‘And don't let Joe get you alone.’

I pull away and give Shade an incredulous look.

‘In a house full of Bandervilles,’ I mutter, ‘it's not going to matter much, is it? Even in your dad’s house, no one came to help. Their staff certainty won’t say anything no matter what happens. No one will intervene.’

I regret my words as soon as I say them. Their expressions turn stricken.

‘I'll be fine,’ I say, trying to muster up a smile, but I think it looks more like a grimace.

I give them each a hug, and then I go downstairs and out the door.

Waiting for me is a black car with a driver in a black suit. He opens the door for me without a word, and I get in.

He drives us slowly away from the KIP house and I try to keep my hands from shaking. I look out the window the entire time, trying not to think about where we’re going and who will be there.

I'm not quite sure where the Banderville estate is, but I know it’s close to my stepfather's house, so when we pass his estate, I steel myself to a hellish afternoon. It's not long before we reach a large wrought iron gate.

It opens automatically as we approach and then the car travels slowly up a long, winding driveway.

I know it's almost winter, but everything here looks somehow extra desolate.

The trees are bare. The grass grows in thin patches.

Even the winter flowers seem muted and subdued, like all the goodness has been sucked up by generations of their terrible family.

We arrive at the house, and the car stops. The driver gets out and opens the door for me.

I put my pleasant smile on my face, pretending that I'm at The Heath.

Yep, that'll do it.